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Associate Prof Steve Wheeler emphasized the great potential of blogs for learning, at the NTU Info-Sharing for Faculty: we-Learning for Gen-Y Students, 24 Jul 2013 I agree with him fully after my experience in Penn State's EDTEC 467 course

I really like listening to Sir Ken Robinson. So true what he said about education, that a teacher may be performing the task of teaching but if the students are not learning, then education is not achieved. Most people would agree that the role of a teacher is to facilitate learning. He made a good contrast between curiosity (engine of achievement) and compliance; creativity vs standardization

I love TEDtalks I it is my favorite activity when I have the rare "down time". I have watched everything Ken Robinson has on TED and always enjoy his observations - complex ideas that are simply stated. "Culture of Compliance" - WOW! My biggest take-away was when he stated, "High performance systems (but not evident in America) focus on 1. individualized teaching and learning, Recognize the students are learning and the system has to engage them and their curiosity, individuality, and creativity - that's how you get them to learn. 2. They (Finland) attribute a very high status to the teaching profession...and invest in professional development. 3. They devolve the control down to the school level." REVOLUTIONARY!

There are so many points in this talk that resonated with me. His notion of "the importance of failing" is spot on. He says that "When we were young we weren't frightened of failing or scared of being wrong. Unfortunately the school system is educating people out of being creative and teaching that the worst thing that can happen is to be wrong about something. If we aren't prepared to be wrong we will never come up with anything original." It will be a shift for us as educators to encourage trial and error and not look at failing as a weakness in our teachings but instead as engagement, creativity and learning in our students.

Here are two of my favorites by Sir Ken Robinson 1. "Changing Education Paradigms" http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms.html It is a fascinating video that not only acknowledges the place for creativity but also multiple intelligences. 2. "Bring on the Learning Revolution!" http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html Here, he "makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning -- creating conditions where kids' natural talents can flourish." (video description)

"The free iPhone app launched Wednesday. Once you fire up Threadlife, you can start recording your three-second clips, called "stitches." Those are then combined into the playlists, called "threads." One master thread will store all your clips chronologically, or you can break out separate, smaller ones for specific events or themes. Multiple friends can also contribute to one thread to share experiences from afar"

I wonder when/if there will be an Android version? I'm not an iPhone user!

Thank you for sharing this app. This has fit so nicely with my ADTED 449 Course, Video in the Classroom. It is so easy to use.

good post on a recent Pew report on teens & social media usage. Well worth reading.

"aims to improve mathematical outcomes for all students by constructing engaging learning experiences that support the development of quantitative literacies"

Although I mentioned this in my blog, it was too good not to post here too

Although I mentioned this in my blog, I wanted to include it here because it was interesting for me to see the suggestions and uses.

Since I am new to blogging and such as well as how to use technology in the classroom, I have started to look for interesting blogs that may nudge/push/shove me in the right direction. Since her motto is "Challenging Ourselves to Engage Our Students", I thought I would challenge myself here and engage as a student. Enjoy!

This is a great 8 min video. What struck me most is how Twitter helped her to connect with people who were interested in her research work. Good thing she was dragged into the power of Social Media

What an amazing site. I can see this would be helpful for classroom teachers on so many levels. Not only does it close the gap between students around the world but it deepens their understanding and strengthens their connects to the world around them.

"space2cre8"

Outside of Edmodo, I am struggling to think of ways social networking is used in classrooms here locally in Whispering Pines, NC. Stornaiuolo's comment in the video that students are watching but not commenting may be what I am seeing here locally but further comments made by her may also have revealed the solution. "How do you talk to people" may hold the key, at least in theory, as I talk to my daughter about why she doesn't comment more on Edmodo. My daughter stated that she was concerned about making a mistake since "it would be on the internet like forever. Mom, there is no such thing as a mistake on the internet, just regrets you have to live with forever that everyone knows about and no one forgets or will let you forget about." Interesting...thought provoking...

Here's one statistic in the report that I think has particular relevance to our class - "... 69% say the internet has a "major impact" on their ability to share ideas with other teachers"

I found this statement to be interesting: "In terms of community type, teachers in urban areas are the least likely to say their students have sufficient access to digital tools IN SCHOOL, while rural teachers are the least likely to say their students have sufficient access AT HOME." Why do you supposed this is?

@cheryl - might be because broadband access is not as widely available in rural areas as urban - e.g., "Because of relatively low population density, topographical barriers, and greater geographical distances, broadband service may be more difficult to obtain in some rural areas" http://www.broadband.gov/rural_areas.html

"To borrow a phrase from Will Richardson, EdTech should not focus only on using tech to teach and learn better than we did before, but rather, it should focus on using tech to teach and learn differently."