Group items tagged

"The research Pink references shows that, once basic financial needs are met, autonomy, mastery and purpose - not money - are better motivators of performance. Pink points out that engagement and motivation come from a sense of self-direction - of trust, and of ownership. The message for managers here is that it's time to get out of the way."

This IS the Plate by Chris Thinnes. An excellent reminder of what our purpose is.

Fantastic resource for teachers who need a list of web tools and/or apps to serve different purposes in their classroom projects and activities. 

The purpose of Mamuna is to provide a great catalog of interesting social media sites and rate them with star ratings and reviews.

Using a common definition of quality, EQuIP teams are learning how to use tools and processes to review the quality of materials (tasks, lesson, units, modules) that states will contribute for the purpose of receiving critical feedback for improvement.

I've started creating a table of important skills, some derived from the Padagogy Wheel, and actions, some derived from iPad As… What I am planning to highlight is that there are many apps that can be use for many purposes and for developing many skills. For example, I have already added "Explain Everything" to 9 categories as I see it as a multifunctional app and one worth its price because of the educational benefits it provides. Over the coming months I plan to add text descriptions to each category to explain how the apps listed address the skill or action they have been linked to and may also link them to other online sources that show them in action. I'll also provide direct links to the App Store, as I always do on this blog when I mention apps so you can check them out yourself if you want. Now this sounds like a big task and it is. So I do need some help. What do I want from you? Anything you can give. Just add them to the comments of this post. Examples of apps that help to develop specific skills Additional skills I haven't listed here Examples of apps that are multifunctional. Explanations of good pedagogical practice with apps. Don't worry, all credit will go to you when I include your suggestions. Links to blog posts, websites, Youtube tutorials, open wikis, nings etc that promote good practice that I can link to from here. Examples on add ons like bookmarklets for curation sites, websites that work well with iPads ( Flash-free) that can still be categorised under these headings for iPad use. Spread the word regularly through Twitter, Facebook, Curation sites like Pinterest and Scoop-It to keep educators coming back.

a high school English teacher highlights three ways she and her colleagues are using Twitter to engage students in and outside of their classrooms. A variety of complexity and purposes represented.

To succeed in the 21st-century economy, students must learn to analyze and solve problems, collaborate, persevere, take calculated risks and learn from failure. 

Years ago the Hilton Foundation gave St. Catherine University money to support outreach around the Sisters, broadly construed. Why? Because in their research on ROI, they found that money given to Sisters to do good in the world yielded the largest returns. Sisters have a history of maximizing benefits. In our practice at St. Kate's we, with a faculty of varying faiths and identities, channel the Sisters' practices of hospitality, generosity, the Catholic Intellectual Tradition and treating our dear neighbors as ourselves to serve the greater good in our work with students and the community. Unity around this shared purpose is what makes working and learning here uniquely wonderful. Anyway, if you are a lover of podcasts, good stories, history, or community you might consider the series shared here. A suitable addition to National Women's History Month as well as National Catholic Sisters Week in March.

Tech training and PD should be about more than the device; it should have purpose. The key to professional learning is having an objective for your learning and then time to apply what you've learned. It does take time!

After two days of talking about curriculum, integration, STEM, STEAM and HASS I am left with more questions than I started with. In some respects, the concept of curriculum integration is simple. It is after all something that Primary teachers almost take for granted. But for Senior and Tertiary educators the question of curriculum integration is inherently complex. At all levels questions emerge of what curriculum integration might achieve, what purposes it serves, what it could and should look like and how it should be supported by curriculum planners. In the current climate, with its debate around the role of education within an innovation economy, shaped by technology and confronting demands for a STEAM enabled workforce the shape of our curriculum is under pressure. 

What if every student (and educator) was a good online researcher?  I know, you don't have the time to teach information fluency skills.  What if you could get a significant advance is skills with just a 2 -3  hour time commitment?  Here's a great Prezi 'fly by" of the new Information Investigator 3.1 online self paced class.  Watch the presentation carefully to find the link to a free code to take the class for evaluation purposes. 

Of course you could always have you school librarian/media specialist teach information skills to your students! That's what they do!

I couldn't agree more. Library Media Specialists, especially when they can collaborate with classroom teachers, are the best resource for teaching these skills. However the problem of access to a Librarian and the issue of scale are real barriers. I've been creating content for Librarians for a decade. They are the best! You'll find years of free resources at: http://21cif.com This resource will help them reach more students. We had 1000 teens take this course at the Center for Talent Development. It really does work. We're hoping to reach teachers and librarians everywhere so we can pass along the skills and the opportunity. If American education was marginally rational there would be professionally staffed library media centers in every school. Since that isn't the case, I hope Internet based resources can keep the lights on for a new generation that really needs information fluency.

Impacts of Twitter on professional lives

"I've been teaching students how to write for 12 years, but this week I had a realization that made me question the purpose of writing in school." Catlin Tucker brings up some important points to consider in the writing process and her own process as a teacher.

"This is our third consecutive post on Twitter. Now that you have a roadmap on how to use Twitter in your classroom and after you have identified with the different educational  hashtags you need to follow as a teacher, let us share with you some ideas on how to leverage the power of this social platform for professional development purposes."

Comprehensive site about iPads in education. Links apps to educational purposes, includes link to other useful sites on iPads in schools.

"When we first purchased our class set of iPads we needed a secure storage and charging solution. Unfortunately the purpose built trolleys were too expensive. At $4.50 each these drying racks were a great alternative while we saved up the money."

Abstract The purpose of this article is to discuss how the University of Michigan School of Nursing designed and implemented a virtual hospital unit in Second Life® to run virtual simulations. Three scenarios were developed about topics that represent areas that contribute to patient safety, as well as key student learning challenges. Fifteen students completed a 6-question survey evaluating their experience. Comments indicated students did identify the potential benefits of the Second Life® simulation. The Second Life® platform may also provide avenues for learning in the clinical arena for a multitude of health care professionals. The opportunity to simulate emergent, complex situations in a nonthreatening, safe environment allows all members of the team to develop critical communication skills necessary to provide safe patient care.

Blog post of links to educational games with teacher management capabilities. Submit your favorite game sites and have them added to the custom Google search engine embedded in the post.