"PDF documents are now being used almost everywhere. Long ago, when they have just been introduced, it was difficult for us to use these documents as there were no options for any kind of change. All we could do was just read or view the documents. There were no PDF tools for teachers, admins, and students.
However, with the introduction of other tools, we were able to do different things with PDFs which made it easy for us to use them for various purposes."
"Making learning interactive has always been difficult for educators. Students rarely want to collaborate and get involved in discussions, because most of them are afraid of making mistakes and saying something wrong. Luckily for all of us, the emergence of technology used in classrooms has made educators able of making the learning process interactive. Blending the traditional textbooks with innovative web tools that inspire collaboration will be the wisest thing you've ever done for your students.
The goal of project-based learning is to enable your students to put the things they have learned into practice and develop valuable skills through the project development. They will learn how to make priorities, manage sources, and summarize new concepts. The final goal is to enable them to understand a certain concept more easily."
"There is no shortage of online tools aimed at teachers, many of which provide study materials and classroom exercises. Another such example is Quizdini, which sets itself apart from the rest of the crowd by being completely free and highly customisable. The online tool allows teachers to modify the materials and tailor the learning experience to their specific needs, with additional hints, links and even videos thrown in to enhance the learning experience."
"Working in a creative industry often means that you need to present your work on a global stage, using an attractive and professional platform. A great portfolio can help you land clients while building your brand and network, so it's essential to get it right.
However, creating a beautiful, functional portfolio can be complicated and time-consuming, especially if you have no prior design or coding knowledge. Not to worry - there are plenty of online tools that can help you get your portfolio up and running in no time. "
A digital story combines text and images with narration in the student's own voice to form a short digital movie.
Digital Storyteller is a web-based tool that offers teachers and students frictionless access to digital images and materials that enable them to construct compelling personal narratives. Digital Storyteller was developed as an initiative of Primary Access.
"Google Docs, in addition to being a stellar way to write, store and manage your documents and slideshows, is also a fantastically useful way to collect survey data. Basically, you send out a form, people fill it in, and Google reports the documents back to you in an incredibly simple and easy-to-understand fashion."
"Are you a teacher or trainer? Someone involved in a hiring process? Do you need to check somehow that other people have the skills or knowledge that you expect them to? Well, you're going to love what you can do using Google Forms. You can create a self-grading test for whatever your purposes are. That's powerful!
Google Forms are amazing tools, allowing you to do some really advanced tricks with forms as the front-end and spreadsheets at the heart. Once you get started you'll be amazed at just how much you can achieve with this basic premise. Today we'll look at how to create a self-grading quiz using Google Forms. From there, you'll no doubt find a lot more ways to use forms and spreadsheets."
"Mind mapping is the process of using visual diagrams to show the relationships between ideas or information. Its popular uses include project planning, collecting and organizing thoughts, brainstorming and presentations - all in order to help solve problems, map out resources and uncover new ideas.
It can be more useful than trying to keep track of our ideas by scribbling them on paper, and can aid in manipulating and generating concepts."
Mind mapping is the process of using visual diagrams to show the relationships between ideas or information. Its popular uses include project planning, collecting and organizing thoughts, brainstorming and presentations - all in order to help solve problems, map out resources and uncover new ideas.
It can be more useful than trying to keep track of our ideas by scribbling them on paper, and can aid in manipulating and generating concepts.
In this first three-part post, John Larmer describes how he and co-author Susie Boss answered the question in their newly published book, 'PBL for 21st Century Success: Teaching Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity'. In the next post, Deborah Esparza will review the book from "the field". For the final post, co-author Susie Boss has been invited to explain why she and John choose this topic.
Digital Citizenship is a concept which helps teachers, technology leaders and parents to understand what students/children/technology users should know to use technology appropriately. Digital Citizenship is more than just a teaching tool; it is a way to prepare students/technology users for a society full of technology. Digital citizenship is the norms of appropriate, responsible technology use. Too often we are seeing students as well as adults misusing and abusing technology but not sure what to do. The issue is more than what the users do not know but what is considered appropriate technology usage.
A comprehensive look at the promise and potential of online learning
In our digital age, students have dramatically new learning needs and must be prepared for the idea economy of the future. In Getting Smart, well-known global education expert Tom Vander Ark examines the facets of educational innovation in the United States and abroad. Vander Ark makes a convincing case for a blend of online and onsite learning, shares inspiring stories of schools and programs that effectively offer "personal digital learning" opportunities, and discusses what we need to do to remake our schools into "smart schools."
Examines the innovation-driven world, discusses how to combine online and onsite learning, and reviews "smart tools" for learning
Investigates the lives of learning professionals, outlines the new employment bargain, examines online universities and "smart schools"
Makes the case for smart capital, advocates for policies that create better learning, studies smart cultures
The Common Core State Standards clearly define the skills students need for success in college and the 21st century workplace. The question is, how can you measure student mastery of skills like creativity, problem solving, and use of technology? Laura Greenstein demonstrates how teachers can teach and assess 21st century skills using authentic learning experiences and rigorous, varied assessment strategies. Based on the best ideas of renowned experts in education, this book provides a framework and practical ideas for measuring
Thinking skills: critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and metacognition
Actions: communication, collaboration, digital and technological literacy
Living skills: citizenship, global understanding, leadership, college and career readiness
Included are numerous rubrics and checklists, a step-by-step model for developing your own classroom assessments, a lesson planning template, and sample completed lesson plans. Assessing 21st Century Skills gives you the tools and strategies you need to prepare students to succeed in a rapidly changing world.
Is change hard? Is change easy? The answer to both of those questions is "yes."
If you reflect upon all that is done to "change" schools, you would probably think that policymakers think change is hard - very hard. Think of all the initiatives that are launched every day to change schools: new tests, new curriculum, new evaluation systems, new laws, policies and regulations. When all of these, however, fail to change schools, the people who develop these change initiatives end up thinking that the change initiatives just have to be bigger, stronger and more tightly managed.
AVID, Advancement Via Individual Determination, is a college readiness system for elementary through higher education that is designed to increase schoolwide learning and performance. The AVID College Readiness System (ACRS) accelerates student learning, uses research based methods of effective instruction, provides meaningful and motivational professional learning, and acts as a catalyst for systemic reform and change.
"A collection of stories is the way to rewrite a singular history that has been in textbooks....I think it takes a lot of people telling a lot of stories about what their experience has been, what the experience of their ancestors has been."
The speaker is Tommy Orange, an Oakland-based media consultant, writer, and digital storyteller who is an enrolled member of the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and describes himself as "a father, a son, a brother, an uncle, a partner, a storyteller, and a committed member and servant of his community." For Issue #3 of The Republic of Stories, our quarterly online publication, Arlene Goldbard interviewed Tommy and Tony Platt, author of books inlcuding Grave Matters: Excavating California's Buried Past, who lives in Berkeley and Big Lagoon, California, and serves as secretary of the Coalition to Protect Yurok Cultural Legacies at O-pyuweg (Big Lagoon).
How to tap into Creative COmmons resources
If your students are using images, video, or music in the final products that they are producing for your class, then it is INCREDIBLY important that you introduce them to the Creative Commons -- an organization that is helping to redefine copyright laws.
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