Useful tool lets you upload PowerPoint or Keynote presentations and then share as a link. You can then insert polls or questions and get real-time feedback from students/viewers.
Free learning management system with good collection of resources, including discussion threads, assignment sharing/grading, messaging tools, flashcards, color-coded subjects/classes, more.
Nice brainstorming/concept mapping tool with lots of features, even in free version. Includes several templates, ability to include images, stamps, links, maps, more.
Interesting site offers short "brain breaks" in the form of videos incorporating colorful characters, subject content, and yoga-like elements such as stretching, breathing, mild exercise. Goes along with research into exercise/activity and the brain.
Site lets teachers post a question online. Students then respond via webcam (no account required) and have their (moderated) comment added to a really great-looking video wall online. Site does cost $65 annually, but that includes 10 walls and virtually endless questions/responses.
Easy to use tool for creating flipped classroom lessons. Use the built-in search tool to find videos, images, or social media posts, put them into a timeline, add text and/or polls, and share. Free account has very limited media storage, but not an issue if you only use embedded media. Paid service has educator discount and is only $2.50/month.
Decentralized systems have proven to be more productive and agile than rigid, top-down ones
Teachers provide prompts, not answers, and then they step aside
We don’t openly profess those values nowadays, but our educational system—which routinely tests kids on their ability to recall information and demonstrate mastery of a narrow set of skills—doubles down on the view that students are material to be processed, programmed, and quality-tested. School administrators prepare curriculum standards and “pacing guides” that tell teachers what to teach each day. Legions of managers supervise everything that happens in the classroom; in 2010 only 50 percent of public school staff members in the US were teachers.
In 1970 the top three skills required by the Fortune 500 were the three Rs: reading, writing, and arithmetic. In 1999 the top three skills in demand were teamwork, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills
And yet the dominant model of public education is still fundamentally rooted in the industrial revolution that spawned it, when workplaces valued punctuality, regularity, attention, and silence above all else.
“schools in the cloud,”
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.”
as the kids blasted through the questions, they couldn’t help noticing that it felt easy, as if they were being asked to do something very basic.
Great collection of resources for anyone interested in starting an after-school programming club for kids in upper elementary. Lesson plans, student tasks, much more!
Digital magazine from Stanford University highlights interesting and challenging stories of innovation. Could be a great kick-starter for project-based learning or to engage kids in innovative and critical thinking.