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NTHS Library

Glogster - Poster Yourself - 25 views

edu.glogster.com

shared by NTHS Library on 19 Aug 09 - Cached
Gayle Cole liked it
    • Kalin Wilburn
      Kalin Wilburn on 19 May 11
       
      Make sure you are on Glogster EDU. You will need to sign up for an account. It is FREE and easy to use. Your students can utilize this resource to create engaging and interactive posters for various classroom projects!
    • Dana Dyczko
      Dana Dyczko on 28 Oct 11
       
      How are people using this in classrooms and what grade levels? I am jsut getting started!
  • Marc Young on 19 Aug 09
     
    Glogster.com - Poster yourself - Make your interactive poster easily and share it with friends. It is fantastic!
  • ...2 more comments...
  • Deborah Thonus on 11 Feb 10
     
    Description: Glogs are online, interactive posters. "A valuable teaching tool that integrates diverse core subjects including math, science, history, art, photography, music and more for individual learner portfolios, unique alternative assessments, and differentiated instructional activities." From Glogster EDU
  • Deborah Thonus on 11 Feb 10
     
    Description: Glogs are online, interactive posters. "A valuable teaching tool that integrates diverse core subjects including math, science, history, art, photography, music and more for individual learner portfolios, unique alternative assessments, and differentiated instructional activities." From Glogster EDU
  • MrDCarson on 12 Feb 10
     
    Really is a powerful tool in the classroom, with so many ways to implement it for any subject. Also, teachers can set up student accounts and monitor activity.
  • Marc Patton on 31 Mar 11
     
    Glogster EDU Premium is a collaborative online learning platform for teachers and students to express their creativity, knowledge, ideas and skills in the classroom.
Glenda Baker

Growly Notes Is The OneNote For Mac, And It Is Free - 104 views

maketecheasier.com/...15

Notebook onenote

shared by Glenda Baker on 18 Aug 11 - No Cached
  • Glenda Baker on 18 Aug 11
     
    Mac alternative for Onenote
Jac Londe

CamStudio - Free Screen Recording Software - 24 views

camstudio.org

desktop editing tool webtool

shared by Jac Londe on 06 Mar 12 - Cached
  • Jennifer Diaz on 18 Mar 12
     
    For windows.  May be an alternative to QuickTime Player for Mac.  Want to use this for screen casting.
  • Jac Londe on 15 Feb 15
     
    Desktop video capture tool the best free tool to explain a web concept in a little clip that is related to a matter in a cursus.
Andrew McCluskey

Occupy Your Brain - 111 views

schoolingtheworld.org/...occupy

education education reform education system schooling pedagogy indigenous indigenous pedagogies knowledge alternative education standardization state standards national standards global standards power authority intellect

shared by Andrew McCluskey on 11 Feb 13 - No Cached
Ant Heald liked it
  • One of the most profound changes that occurs when modern schooling is introduced into traditional societies around the world is a radical shift in the locus of power and control over learning from children, families, and communities to ever more centralized systems of authority.
  • Once learning is institutionalized under a central authority, both freedom for the individual and respect for the local are radically curtailed.  The child in a classroom generally finds herself in a situation where she may not move, speak, laugh, sing, eat, drink, read, think her own thoughts, or even  use the toilet without explicit permission from an authority figure.
  • In what should be considered a chilling development, there are murmurings of the idea of creating global standards for education – in other words, the creation of a single centralized authority dictating what every child on the planet must learn.
  • ...26 more annotations...
  • In “developed” societies, we are so accustomed to centralized control over learning that it has become functionally invisible to us, and most people accept it as natural, inevitable, and consistent with the principles of freedom and democracy.   We assume that this central authority, because it is associated with something that seems like an unequivocal good – “education” – must itself be fundamentally good, a sort of benevolent dictatorship of the intellect. 
  • We endorse strict legal codes which render this process compulsory, and in a truly Orwellian twist, many of us now view it as a fundamental human right to be legally compelled to learn what a higher authority tells us to learn.
  • And yet the idea of centrally-controlled education is as problematic as the idea of centrally-controlled media – and for exactly the same reasons.
  • The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was designed to protect all forms of communication, information-sharing, knowledge, opinion and belief – what the Supreme Court has termed “the sphere of intellect and spirit” – from government control.
  • by the mid-19th century, with Indians still to conquer and waves of immigrants to assimilate, the temptation to find a way to manage the minds of an increasingly diverse and independent-minded population became too great to resist, and the idea of the Common School was born.
  • We would keep our freedom of speech and press, but first we would all be well-schooled by those in power.
  • A deeply democratic idea — the free and equal education of every child — was wedded to a deeply anti-democratic idea — that this education would be controlled from the top down by state-appointed educrats.
  • The fundamental point of the Occupy Wall Street movement is that the apparatus of democratic government has been completely bought and paid for by a tiny number of grotesquely wealthy individuals, corporations, and lobbying groups.  Our votes no longer matter.  Our wishes no longer count.  Our power as citizens has been sold to the highest bidder.
  • Our kids are so drowned in disconnected information that it becomes quite random what they do and don’t remember, and they’re so overburdened with endless homework and tests that they have little time or energy to pay attention to what’s happening in the world around them.
  • If in ten years we can create Wikipedia out of thin air, what could we create if we trusted our children, our teachers, our parents, our neighbors, to generate community learning webs that are open, alive, and responsive to individual needs and aspirations?  What could we create if instead of trying to “scale up” every innovation into a monolithic bureaucracy we “scaled down” to allow local and individual control, freedom, experimentation, and diversity?
  • The most academically “gifted” students excel at obedience, instinctively shaping their thinking to the prescribed curriculum and unconsciously framing out of their awareness ideas that won’t earn the praise of their superiors.  Those who resist sitting still for this process are marginalized, labeled as less intelligent or even as mildly brain-damaged, and, increasingly, drugged into compliance.
  • the very root, the very essence, of any theory of democratic liberty is a basic trust in the fundamental intelligence of the ordinary person.   Democracy rests on the premise that the ordinary person — the waitress, the carpenter, the shopkeeper — is competent to make her own judgments about matters of domestic policy, international affairs, taxes, justice, peace, and war, and that the government must abide by the decisions of ordinary people, not vice versa.  Of course that’s not the way our system really works, and never has been.   But most of us recall at some deep level of our beings that any vision of a just world relies on this fundamental respect for the common sense of the ordinary human being.
  • This is what we spend our childhood in school unlearning. 
  • If before we reach the age of majority we must submit our brains for twelve years of evaluation and control by government experts, are we then truly free to exercise our vote according to the dictates of our own common sense and conscience?  Do we even know what our own common sense is anymore?
  • We live in a country where a serious candidate for the Presidency is unaware that China has nuclear weapons, where half the population does not understand that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11, where nobody pays attention as Congress dismantles the securities regulations that limit the power of the banks, where 45% of American high school students graduate without knowing that the First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees freedom of the press.   At what point do we begin to ask ourselves if we are trying to control quality in the wrong way?
  • Human beings, collaborating with one another in voluntary relationships, communicating and checking and counter-checking and elaborating and expanding on one another’s knowledge and intelligence, have created a collective public resource more vast and more alive than anything that has ever existed on the planet.
  • But this is not a paeon to technology; this is about what human intelligence is capable of when people are free to interact in open, horizontal, non-hierarchical networks of communication and collaboration.
  • Positive social change has occurred not through top-down, hierarchically controlled organizations, but through what the Berkana Institute calls “emergence,” where people begin networking and forming voluntary communities of practice. When the goal is to maximize the functioning of human intelligence, you need to activate the unique skills, talents, and knowledge bases of diverse individuals, not put everybody through a uniform mill to produce uniform results. 
  • You need a non-punitive structure that encourages collaboration rather than competition, risk-taking rather than mistake-avoidance, and innovation rather than repetition of known quantities.
  • if we really want to return power to the 99% in a lasting, stable, sustainable way, we need to begin the work of creating open, egalitarian, horizontal networks of learning in our communities.
  • They are taught to focus on competing with each other and gaming the system rather than on gaining a deep understanding of the way power flows through their world.
  • And what could we create, what ecological problems could we solve, what despair might we alleviate, if instead of imposing our rigid curriculum and the destructive economy it serves on the entire world, we embraced as part of our vast collective intelligence the wisdom and knowledge of the world’s thousands of sustainable indigenous cultures?
  • They knew this about their situation: nobody was on their side.  Certainly not the moneyed classes and the economic system, and not the government, either.  So if they were going to change anything, it had to come out of themselves.
  • As our climate heats up, as mountaintops are removed from Orissa to West Virginia, as the oceans fill with plastic and soils become too contaminated to grow food, as the economy crumbles and children go hungry and the 0.001% grows so concentrated, so powerful, so wealthy that democracy becomes impossible, it’s time to ask ourselves; who’s educating us?  To what end?  The Adivasis are occupying their forests and mountains as our children are occupying our cities and parks.  But they understand that the first thing they must take back is their common sense. 
  • They must occupy their brains.
  • Isn’t it time for us to do the same?
  • Andrew McCluskey on 11 Feb 13
     
    Carol Black, creator of the documentary, "Schooling the World" discusses the conflicting ideas of centralized control of education and standardization against the so-called freedom to think independently--"what the Supreme Court has termed 'the sphere of intellect and spirit" (Black, 2012). Root questions: "who's educating us? to what end?" (Black, 2012).
  • Andrew McCluskey on 11 Feb 13
     
    This is a must read. Carol Black echoes here many of the ideas of Paulo Freire, John Taylor Gatto and the like.
Charles Greenberg

Open Education Week - 58 views

www.openeducationweek.org

education OER creativecommons ideas week

shared by Charles Greenberg on 17 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Open education seeks to reduce barriers to learning for everyone while providing tools and resources that facilitate success. Initiatives in open education include open sharing of high-quality educational materials (Open Educational Resources), flexible and free learning formats that make use of open content, alternative pathways to assessment and certification of learning, and projects that support improvements in educational systems.
  • Roland Gesthuizen on 17 Dec 11
     
    Welcome to the Open Education Week website. We are busy planning activities for 5-10 March 2012 to explore open education projects, resources and institutions around the world. Events will engage you in discussions and presentations about how open sharing in education can foster improvements in teaching and learning globally, make education more accessible, and create opportunities for collaboration and innovation. All live and virtual activities will be free and open to the public. Please check back for schedules, resources and information.
  • Charles Greenberg on 01 Mar 12
     
    Be part of the beginning. No turning back
Melissa Wert

Wall.fm - Social Network Builder | Create a Social Network Free - 23 views

wall.fm

socialnetworking wall.fm ning alternative

shared by Melissa Wert on 31 Aug 10 - Cached
  • Wall.fm is a free tool for creating custom social networks with easy setup and complete feature set.
webExplorations

Welcome | Flat World Knowledge - 5 views

www.flatworldknowledge.com

books ctl

shared by webExplorations on 17 Sep 09 - Cached
  • Rob Reynolds on 17 Sep 09
     
    Free textbooks on-line
  • webExplorations on 28 Apr 11
     
    Books that are customizable using Open Source licensing (if you change it, share the changes back to the community for the good of all.) Books are free if read online along with a wide variety of printed and eBook options for reasonable amounts. Limited library right now but I suspect this area of alternative books will be growing rapidly.
Josh Flores

Free Tools Challenge #1: Wallwisher - Words That Stick | Teacher Challenge - 97 views

teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/...-1-wallwisher-words-that-stick

shared by Josh Flores on 04 May 11 - No Cached
    • Josh Flores
      Josh Flores on 16 Jun 11
       
      An alternative to Lino Pad for collaborative and academic discussion
Tanya Hudson

High Tech- Low Budget Technology Options For The Music Classroom - MusicEdMagic.com - 78 views

www.musicedmagic.com/...s-for-the-music-classroom.html

edtech technology digital links tools resources software hardware education music

shared by Tanya Hudson on 04 Dec 12 - No Cached
  • chadcriswell on 04 Dec 12
     
    A large and growing list of free or low cost software and hardware alternatives that music educators can use in their classrooms instead of the high priced commercial stuff.
  • Tanya Hudson on 06 Dec 12
     
    Huge compilation of links to technology for music teachers!
Daryl Bambic

How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses | Wired Busine... - 28 views

www.wired.com/...free-thinkers

education teaching learning pedagogy alternative

shared by Daryl Bambic on 24 Oct 13 - No Cached
  • To them, knowledge isn’t a commodity that’s delivered from teacher to student but something that emerges from the students’ own curiosity-fueled exploration.
  • eachers provide prompts
  • they step aside so students can teach themselves and one another.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • Potential.”
  • “So,” Juárez Correa said, “what do you want to learn?”
  • “If you put a computer in front of children and remove all other adult restrictions, they will self-organize around it,” Mitra says, “like bees around a flower.”
  • There will be no teachers, curriculum, or separation into age groups—just six or so computers and a woman to look after the kids’ safety. His defining principle: “The children are completely in charge.”
  • Theorists from Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi to Jean Piaget and Maria Montessori have argued that students should learn by playing and following their curiosity.
  • Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin similarly claim that their Montessori schooling imbued them with a spirit of independence and creativity.
  • The study found that when the subjects controlled their own observations, they exhibited more coordination between the hippocampus and other parts of the brain involved in learning and posted a 23 percent improvement in their ability to remember objects.
  • if you’re not the one who’s controlling your learning, you’re not going to learn as well
A Gardner

PowToon, free business presentation software animated video maker and PowerPoint altern... - 191 views

www.powtoon.com

animation presentations tools PowToon education tool website

shared by A Gardner on 22 Aug 12 - No Cached
  • A Gardner on 16 Apr 14
     
    Start with suggestions or from scratch; Great Potential!
Robert Appino

gladwell dot com - something borrowed - 86 views

www.gladwell.com/...2004_11_25_a_borrowed.html

gladwell copyright CoETaIL CoETaIL2 ssischool

shared by Robert Appino on 12 Feb 12 - Cached
  • Under copyright law, what matters is not that you copied someone else's work. What matters is what you copied, and how much you copied. Intellectual-property doctrine isn't a straightforward application of the ethical principle "Thou shalt not steal." At its core is the notion that there are certain situations where you can steal. The protections of copyright, for instance, are time-limited; once something passes into the public domain, anyone can copy it without restriction.
    • Robert Appino
      Robert Appino on 12 Feb 12
       
      This is the key to copyright according to Gladwell.
  • initial monopoly on your creation because we want to provide economic incentives for people to invent things like cancer drugs. But everyone gets to steal your breast-cancer cure—after a decent interval—because it is also in society's interest to let as many people as possible copy your invention; only then can others learn from it, and build on it, and come up with better and cheaper alternatives. This balance between the protecting and the limiting of intellectual property
  • Constitution: "Congress shall have the power to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited"—note that specification, limited—"Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • In ordinary language, to call a copyright a "property" right is a bit misleading, for the property of copyright is an odd kind of property. . . . I understand what I am taking when I take the picnic table you put in your backyard. I am taking a thing, the picnic table, and after I take it, you don't have it. But what am I taking when I take the good idea you had to put a picnic table in the backyard—by, for example, going to Sears, buying a table, and putting it in my backyard? What is the thing that I am taking then? The point is not just about the thingness of picnic tables versus ideas, though that is an important difference. The point instead is that in the ordinary case—indeed, in practically every case except for a narrow range of exceptions—ideas released to the world are free. I don't take anything from you when I copy the way you dress—though I might seem weird if I do it every day. . . . Instead, as Thomas Jefferson said (and this is especially true when I copy the way someone dresses), "He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me."
  • arguments that Lessig has with the hard-core proponents of intellectual property are almost all arguments about where and when the line should be drawn between the right to copy and the right to protection from copying, not whether a line should be drawn.
  • when it comes to literature, we have somehow decided that copying is never acceptable.
  • A successful music executive has to understand the distinction between borrowing that is transformative and borrowing that is merely derivative, and that distinction, I realized, was what was missing from the discussion of Bryony Lavery's borrowings.
  • problem with plagiarism. It is not merely extremist. It has also become disconnected from the broader question of what does and does not inhibit creativity.
  • But the truth is that Lavery has every right to create an affair for Agnetha, because Agnetha is not Dorothy Lewis. She is a fictional character, drawn from Lewis's life but endowed with a completely imaginary set of circumstances and actions.
  • dred and seventy-five rather ordinary words could bring the walls tumbling down.
Kenuvis Romero

Art of memory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/...Art_of_memory

shared by Kenuvis Romero on 23 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • The Art of Memory or Ars Memoriae ("art of memory" in Latin) is a general term used to designate a loosely associated group of mnemonic principles and techniques used to organize memory impressions, improve recall, and assist in the combination and 'invention' of ideas. An alternative and frequently used term is "Ars Memorativa" which is also often translated as "art of memory" although its more literal meaning is "Memorative Art". It is sometimes referred to as mnemotechnics.[1] It is an 'art' in the Aristotelian sense, which is to say a method or set of prescriptions that adds order and discipline to the pragmatic, natural activities of human beings.[2] It has existed as a recognized group of principles and techniques since at least as early as the middle of the first millennium BCE,[3] and was usually associated with training in rhetoric or logic, but variants of the art were employed in other contexts, particularly the religious and the magical. Techniques commonly employed in the art include the association of emotionally striking memory images within visualized locations, the chaining or association of groups of images, the association of images with schematic graphics or notae ("signs, markings, figures" in Latin), and the association of text with images. Any or all of these techniques were often used in combination with the contemplation or study of architecture, books, sculpture and painting, which were seen by practitioners of the art of memory as externalizations of internal memory images and/or organization.
Kelly Cousins

Did You Say "Intellectual Property"? It's a Seductive Mirage - GNU Project - Free Soft... - 43 views

www.gnu.org/...not-ipr.html

copyright

shared by Kelly Cousins on 23 Jan 10 - Cached
  • The term carries a bias that is not hard to see: it suggests thinking about copyright, patents and trademarks by analogy with property rights for physical objects.
    • Kelly Cousins
      Kelly Cousins on 23 Jan 10
       
      Michael Geyer- I think this is where the confusion of it all sets in like we discussed.
  • alternative names would be an improvement
  • The term “intellectual property” is at best a catch-all to lump together disparate laws.
    • Kelly Cousins
      Kelly Cousins on 23 Jan 10
       
      This is why we have to be dileberate about our decisions while in education.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Nonlawyers who hear one term applied to these various laws tend to assume they are based on a common principle and function similarly.
  • Since these laws developed independently, they are different in every detail, as well as in their basic purposes and methods.
  • If you want to think clearly about the issues raised by patents, or copyrights, or trademarks, the first step is to forget the idea of lumping them together, and treat them as separate topics.
    • Kelly Cousins
      Kelly Cousins on 23 Jan 10
       
      This becomes our responsibility as information specialists in education. Be aware and prepared.
  • Kelly Cousins on 23 Jan 10
     
    Just what is intellectual property?
webExplorations

Home » LibreOffice - 34 views

www.libreoffice.org

tools

shared by webExplorations on 23 May 11 - No Cached
  • webExplorations on 23 May 11
     
    This is an excellent (and free) alternative to Microsoft Office. Can be used on either Macintosh or Windows.
Carol Mortensen

Corkboard.me - Shareable sticky notes web-app. - 149 views

corkboard.me/simple

corkboard collaboration web2.0 notes sticky BulletinBoard shareable note

shared by Carol Mortensen on 04 Oct 11 - No Cached
  • Carol Mortensen on 04 Oct 11
     
    "The simplest way to manage life, work and play."
  • Alice Manning on 05 Oct 11
     
    This is a great yet simple tool to use. The chat in real time feature has lots of potential. I've used Wallwisher for this style of communication/collaboration in the past, but CorkboardMe seems a better alternative (although Wallwisher is completely free and allows privacy settings/security measures to be taken without additional cost.)
Gloria Maristany

ADD / ADHD and School: Helping Children with ADHD Succeed at School - 2 views

helpguide.org/...hd_add_teaching_strategies.htm

strategies adhd teaching

shared by Gloria Maristany on 15 Jul 11 - Cached
  • Kids with attention deficit disorder respond best to specific goals and daily positive reinforcement—as well as worthwhile rewards. Yes, you may have to hang a carrot on a stick to get your child to behave better in class. Create a plan that incorporates small rewards for small victories and larger rewards for bigger accomplishments.
  • Seat the child with ADD/ADHD away from doors and windows.
  • Alternate seated activities with those that allow the child to move his or her body around the room. Whenever possible, incorporate physical movement into lessons.
  • ...20 more annotations...
  • Write important information down where the child can easily read and reference it. Remind the student where the information can be found. Divide big assignments into smaller ones, and allow children frequent breaks.
  • The self-esteem of children with ADD/ADHD is often quite fragile
  • Develop a “secret language” with the child with ADD/ADHD. You can use discreet gestures or words you have previously agreed upon to let the child know they are interrupting. Praise the child for interruption-free conversations.
  • written behavior plan is near the student
  • consequences immediately following misbehavior. Be specific in your explanation, making sure the child knows how they misbehaved.
  • Recognize good behavior out loud. Be specific in your praise, making sure the child knows what they did right.
  • cross off each item as it is completed.
  • run an errand or do a task for you
  • play a sport—or at least run around before and after school.
  • Provide a stress ball, small toy, or other object for the child to squeeze or play with discreetly at his or her seat.
  • do one step and then come back to find out what they should do next
  • extremely brief when giving directions
  • write directions down in a bold marker or in colored chalk on a blackboard.
  • Read to children. Read with children. Make reading cozy, quality time with you. Make predictions or “bets.” Constantly ask the child what they think might happen next. Model prediction: “The girl in the story seems pretty brave—I bet she’s going to try to save her family.” Act out the story. Let the child choose his or her character and assign you one, too. Use funny voices and costumes to bring it to life.
  • If you understand how your child with ADD/ADHD learns best, you can create enjoyable lessons that pack an informational punch.
  • With organization
  • Establish a homework folder for finished homework. Check and help the child organize his or her belongings on a daily basis, including his or her backpack, folders, and even pockets. If possible, keep an extra set of textbooks and other materials at home. Help the child learn to make and use checklists, crossing items off as they are accomplished. Help organize loose papers by color coding folders and showing the child how to hole-punch and file appropriately.
  • Allow the child breaks as often as every ten to twenty minutes. Teach a better understanding of the passage of time: use an analog clock and timers to monitor homework efficiency.
  • Neurological deficits, not unwillingness, keep kids with attention deficit disorder from learning in traditional ways.
  • If you can work with and support your child’s teacher, you can directly affect the experience of your child with ADD/ADHD in the classroom.
  • Gloria Maristany on 15 Jul 11
     
    Simple stategies for classroom
  • Gloria Maristany on 15 Jul 11
     
    Homework tips to share with parents
Clint Heitz

Edu Leadership:Tech-Rich Learning:The Basics of Blended Instruction - 38 views

www.ascd.org/...cs-of-Blended-Instruction.aspx

classroom blended learning technology blended_learning edtech

shared by Clint Heitz on 23 Nov 15 - No Cached
  • Blended learning, with its mix of technology and traditional face-to-face instruction, is a great approach. Blended learning combines classroom learning with online learning, in which students can, in part, control the time, pace, and place of their learning. I advocate a teacher-designed blended learning model, in which teachers determine the combination that's right for them and their students.
  • Tip 1: Think big, but start small.
  • Tip 2: Patience is a virtue when trying something new.
  • ...17 more annotations...
  • Tip 3: Technology shouldn't be just a frill.
  • Tip 4: Weaving media together makes them stronger.
  • Tip 5: Students need to know where they can get online.
  • Student-centered classrooms are the goal of my teacher-designed blended learning model. Giving students control over the learning process requires that they know how to communicate, collaborate, and solve problems in groups, pairs, and individually. This work can be messy, loud, and disorganized, but in the end, the learning is much more meaningful.
  • Then I found Collaborize Classroom, a free, dynamic discussion platform. I used it to replace many of my pen-and-paper homework assignments with vibrant online debates, discussions, writing assignments, and collaborative group work.
  • Remember that mistakes lead to learning. The best resources I've designed and the most effective strategies I've developed were all born from and refined through mistakes.
  • I anticipated that students might hit some bumps as they navigated their first TED-Ed lesson, so I set up a TodaysMeet back channel so students could ask questions, make comments, and access a support network while going through the online lesson. A back-channel tool makes it possible for people to have a real-time conversation online while a live presentation or real-time discussion is taking place.
  • I asked students to reference specific details to support their assertions, as did one student who commented on the town's poverty by noting that the local doctor often took potatoes as payment for his work. She also showed how the characters nevertheless reflected the country's "cautious optimism" about its future: That same doctor was still able to support himself, she pointed out, and he enjoyed his work. Students posted their responses, complimenting strong points made, asking questions, and offering alternative perspectives.
  • I asked students to analyze examples of strong discussion posts and revise weaker posts. I also realized that I needed to embed directions into our discussion topics to remind students to respond to the questions and engage with their peers. I started requiring them to thoughtfully reply to at least two classmates' posts, in addition to posting their own response to the topic.
  • It's crucial for students to see that the work they do in the online space drives the work they do in the classroom so they recognize the value of the online conversations.
  • For example, during the To Kill a Mockingbird unit, we researched and discussed the death penalty in preparation for writing an argument essay. The students debated online such issues as cost, morality, and racial inequality and then delved into these topics more deeply face-to-face in class.
  • In the classroom, the teacher might give small groups various topics to research. Then he or she could ask students to go online to research and discuss their topic on a shared Google Doc and create a presentation using Glogster, Prezi, or Google Presentation Maker.
  • When we read Romeo and Juliet, I use this strategy to encourage students to research such topics as the monarchy, entertainment, and gender roles in Elizabethan England so they have a better understanding of the historical context in which Shakespeare wrote. Back in the classroom, each group then presents its findings through an oral presentation.
  • Compared with traditional in-class group work, which typically yields a disappointing finished product, online work provides the time necessary for students to complete quality work together.
  • Some teachers think that incorporating online work means they have to be available 24 hours a day. This is not the case. When students are connected online, they have a network of peers they can reach out to for support, and they begin to see one another as valuable resources in their class community.
  • I've embedded a Google map in my website that has pins dropped in all the locations on our campus and in our community where there are computers with public access to the Internet.
  • I even wrote the local computer recycling center to request a computer for my class.
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