Group items tagged

What I am learning from my school's infatuation with computers When I first learned that all of my students were getting laptops, I thought it was an educator's dream come true. One year later, I look at the situation differently. Like many progressive educators, I have regarded computers and other technology in schools as important tools to help students understand the world around them. I also hoped that providing all students with laptops would address the digital divide. But after an exhausting year, I have learned that before adopting the technology on a wide scale, it is essential for schools to first consider the potential promises and perils of using technology in the classroom. I believe that social justice educators must ask ourselves and our schools: What are the ethics and power structures involved in using a technology, and how do we create a learning environment to discuss and track the impact of technology on the cognitive, social and emotional development of both students and educators.

Cram, A., Hedberg, J., Lumkin, K. & Eade, J. (2010). Learning through Design and Construction in Multi-User Virtual Environments: Opportunities, Challenges and an Emerging Project. In Proceedings of Global Learn Asia Pacific 2010 (pp. 1185-1194). AACE. Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/34325.

Susan Mutt from Digital Divide and Conquer has created a great rubric to assist students in understanding and analyzing the apps they find. The Student App Review Rubric has five criteria that students can use when assessing an app. Each of the criteria can be given a numerical number from 0 to 4 with 4 as the top grade. The 5 criteria are: 1. Looks and sound, 2. Engagement and motivation. 3. User friendly directions and instructions. 4. Performance and ease of use. 5. Differentiation in learning.

"ETAN provides a forum for educators and others to engage in the political process and project a unified voice in support of a common cause - improving teaching and learning through the systemic use of technology. ETAN's mission is to influence public policy-makers at the federal, state and local levels and to increase public investment in the competitiveness of America's classrooms and students."

As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children's Digital Media Center, Los Angeles. Learners have changed as a result of their exposure to technology, says Greenfield, who analyzed more than 50 studies on learning and technology, including research on multi-tasking and the use of computers, the Internet and video games. Her research was published this month in the journal Science.

Shmoop content is written primarily by Ph.D. and Masters students from top universities, like Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, and Yale. We source our work (see "Citations") and set rigorous academic standards. Teachers and students should feel confident to cite Shmoop as a source in essays and papers.

CITE Journal Article

Spore, produced by Electronic Arts, promises much more than the day-to-day adventures of simulated people. It starts with single-cell microbes and follows them through their evolution into intelligent multicellular creatures that can build civilizations, colonize the galaxy and populate new planets. Unlike the typical shoot-them-till-they're-all-dead video game, Spore was strongly influenced by science, and in particular by evolutionary biology. Mr. Wright will appear in a documentary next Tuesday on the National Geographic Channel, sharing his new game with leading evolutionary biologists and talking with them about the evolution of complex life.

Plagiarism, we all hate it, but how can we teach students to avoid it and how can we detect it? Just as the Internet makes plagiarism easy, the Internet also makes detecting plagiarism and prevent plagiarism easy. What follows are ten resources for detecting plagiarism and teaching students to avoid plagiarism.

Saugus Union School District in Santa Clarita, CA is launching a new program for its fourth-grade students that couples writing and science using ultra-mobile devices and collaborative learning software, among other technologies. According to information supplied to us by the district, the initiative is being funded through a $1.4 million EETT competitive grant the district recently won. The initiative, dubbed "Student Writing Achievement Through Technology Enhanced Collaboration" (SWATTEC), focuses on writing achievement within the science curriculum. EETT funding will provide access to Asus wireless ultra-mobile devices (UMDs) for all 1,700 fourth-grade students in the district, Web-based writing tools, and an online collaborative learning environment. It will also provide teachers with laptops, projectors, printers, interactive pads, mobile carts, and wireless hardware. Teachers are also receiving professional development for the initiative.

is a beautiful browser based flash puzzle game. The animation, illustration. sound and character development is amazing. A stand out in the genre of online games and puzzles. The basic level is also FREE, loads fast and invites exploration! It is so visually rich that it can easily be used to create a digital story or narrative well outside the computer screen. The art is engaging and contemporary in young children's animation right now

This is a stunning example of what 'good design' can bring to the understanding of statistical information. Good use of colour, layout and typographic information helps create a more engaging (and potentially more easily understood) reality. There are numerous uses for this; not least in playful and enjpyable learning. "A visual real-time simulation that displays the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, birth rates, and death rates of every country in the world."

YTPodcaster is a YouTube podcaster tool that lets you convert Youtube videos into video podcasts. All you have to do is enter YouTube username into provided field and click on "Get Feed" button. The application will process your query and create a video podcast from 20 most recent YouTube videos posted by that user. just chose feed type you want and subscribe.

ThinkQuest is a protected, online learning platform that enables teachers to integrate learning projects into their classroom curriculum and students to develop critical 21st century skills. It includes a project environment where teachers and students engage in collaborative learning; a competition space where students participate in website development contests; and the award-winning ThinkQuest library, a learning resource visited by millions.

An article about story boarding and how it relates to a modern presentation such as the TED style talks. Very good embedded video about Walt Disney and the development and use of story boarding in animation.

Remobo creates an Instant Private Network ™ (IPN) between users. Just login, add users to your buddy list, and Remobo will create a secure network for you to: Remote control your home computer and access files while at work or traveling. Privately share large files like photos & docs between computers or with friends & family. Replace your existing, costly and difficult to use VPN software. Run games, video conferencing, streaming media, secure instant messaging & more!

As children we were naturally good at telling stories about events or topics that mattered and learning from others via their stories, but as we became older we were taught that serious people relied only on presenting information and "the facts." Accurate information, sound logic, and the facts are necessary, of course, but truly effective leaders in any field - including technical ones - know how to tell "the story" of their particular research endeavor, technological quest, or marketing plan, etc.

Storytelling is the original teaching tool. Long before there was formal schooling grandparents and parents there were stories. These stories provided children in the community with the knowledge base they needed to survive as an adult. With the introduction of the printing press and the the development of formal schools the role of storytelling in education was diminished. Yet, we still know how a powerful story can capture out attention, fire our imagination, and make clear a difficult idea or concept