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Another interesting read in regards to whole school change and the 'ideals' of technology in education.

Corrie Barclay reflects on his 1st term

Some reflections from Vivienne Ming and Norma Ming in regards to designing educational technology.

The Easy Portfolio Site Builder makes it a breeze to create a student portfolio using Google Sites. No longer will you need to spend hours adding and curating students portfolio content. This is the timesaver you have been waiting for. Once authorised the script will turn all content located inside of a designated folder on your Google Drive into a new Google Site. The app will monitor your Google Drive for changes and reflect these immediately on the Google Site.

"Found this fantastic infographic touting the success of infographics. Reading it ( or more correctly, viewing it) immediately focused my thoughts on the use of visual texts in classrooms today. Click on the screenshot above to view the animated, interactive info graphic that presents  13 reasons why we should use infographics ( or visual texts in general). Unlike other infographics I link to on Mr G Online, I'm not going to discuss the specific points presented - that would be contradictory to the message of the infographic. I'll let you get your own meaning from it. However, I am going to reflect on how it made me consider the use of visual texts in education."

Links to many useful forms for teachers to facilitate the use of technology with students. Templates include: questionnaires, permission forms, preparation sheets, outlines, reflection, self-assessment, guideline contracts. From Ed Tech & Mobile Learning

"Advancing Education is the main Naace journal and is an eclectic mix of academic and action research papers, reports from sponsoring partners, indeed anything to do with advancing the use of ICT across education and reports covering all phases of education. As such it reflects the wide ranging interests of members and sponsors. The journal is published online three times a year. "

"Today, we're excited to announce the public beta of Google Web Designer, a new professional-quality design tool that makes HTML5 creative accessible to everyone from the designer to the dabbler. Google Web Designer enables you to: Create animated HTML5 creative, with a robust, yet intuitive set of design tools. View and edit the code behind your designs and see your edits reflected back on the stage automatically.  Build ad creatives seamlessly for DoubleClick and AdMob, or publish them to any generic environment you choose. Receive updates to the product automatically, without having to re-download the application. Access all of this entirely for free."

A great interview with Canadian educator, George Couros, about the benefits with connecting and sharing online. Includes an interesting reflection on his initial foray into social media and how his use has evolved over time.

AnthonyTeacher has "made an amazing little gradebook on Google Spreadsheets which allows students to view their individual grades in realtime. This means students click on my gradebook link and are taken directly to a page that shows only their grades. Any change I make in my gradebook will be reflected in their grade report automatically when they refresh or visit again."

Our students just finished a second round of Student Led Conferences (SLC) this school year (one in Semester 1 and another in Semester 2). SLCs are a formal opportunity for students to present to their parents about the state of their learning. The students' advisor (a teacher responsible for a ...

A range of digital tools are listed that will allow students to reflect or comment on issues or put their own point of view. They are listed under headings such as writing, multimedia, speaking, performing/directing and artistic expression. Each offers a discussion about the strategy, the tools that could be used and ideas about measuring success.

A very wry and humorous reflection on the life of a coder.

"Something is wrong on Twitter. And people are noticing. Or, at least, the kind of people we hang around with on Twitter are noticing. And it's maybe not a very important demographic, this very weird and specific kind of user: audience-obsessed, curious, newsy. Twitter's earnings last quarter, after all, were an improvement on the period before, and it added 14 million new users for a total of 255 million. The thing is: Its users are less active than they once were. Twitter says these changes reflect a more streamlined experience, but we have a different theory: Twitter is entering its twilight."

An interesting reflection from 1995 from Gary Stager about 'Professional Development'. Interesting that in many ways things have not really changed.

"One of the features of Wear Audio is the ability to adjust the recording quality settings. On Wear Audio you can adjust the audio gain, enable noise and echo suppression, and adjust the audio compression settings. If you're looking for an audio recording app that students can use without having to create and remember yet another password, Wear Audio might be the way to go. Students could use the app to record short reflections on what they learned during the week or perhaps start a podcast that they could even publish."

"Here is a virtual way for New Zealand educators to reflect on, record and share their own learning." Repository for Hangouts, presentations and links from the online Teachmeets in New Zealand.

An engaging way to learn about the impact of tsunamis, floods, earthquakes and volcanoes, and what humans can do to minimise the cost. This website has been a hit with my students during our science study on 'Natural Disasters.' Allowing them to learn through their own experiences and mistakes leads to some powerful sharing and reflection. An example of how games can be used in the classroom to not only support, but extend, the students understanding of these concepts.

"I've been reading snippets of Eli Pariser's book, The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding From You. He leads off the book with a discussion of the effect of Google's "personalization" feature on the ranking of search results. This feature uses 54 signals (what browser version you're using, your prior searches, geographic location, and so on) to customize search results for each user. Pariser was concerned about this and tested it by asking two friends to run the same search at the same time and comparing the results. He found that the results were disturbingly different, and concluded that search engines are "increasingly biased to share our own views. More and more, your computer monitor is a kind of one-way mirror, reflecting your own interests while algorithmic observers watch what you click.""

Why should educators get involved with Twitter? Here are nine reasons 1. Together we're better 2. Global or local: you choose 3. Self-awareness and reflective practice 4. Ideas workshop and sounding board 5. Newsroom and innovation showcase 6. Professional development and critical friends 7. Quality-assured searching 8. Communicate, communicate, communicate 9. Getting with the times has never been so easy!