Group items tagged

This is a news letter you may want to subscribe to. It is free and chalked with good tech information. I tried to reproduce the news brief I received today which talked about the fallout Apple and Google had over Google's involvement with the Android operating system (Iphone's major competition) and how Apple did not renew its license with Google to include the You Tube app on their phones and IPads. Here is s snippet from this week's most read stories: Apple and Google have played a key role in education over the years. With the news earlier this week that Apple will not pre-install the YouTube app on their latest iOS upgrade, coupled with the news that they will have their own map app, you have to wonder how secure their relationship is. It seems that Apple wasn't too pleased about Google's purchase of the Android operating system, which now runs on half of the world's smartphones. If these are indeed the first steps in severing that relationship, what does this mean to districts that support both Apple iOS devices and Google? My district would fall into this category and I have to say both companies have something in common with end-users: their ease of use. Could this break-up actually make usability worse in the future? If I email a link from my Apple map app to my gmail account, what will open when I click on it? If I post something on YouTube, how will I view it on my iPhone? (for the record Apple says it will support in-browser YouTube) I don't have the answer yet, but let me Google it on my iPad and get back to you. - Carl Hooker, SchoolCIO advisor

"For the uninitiated, the flipped concept suggests that we can now use technology to offload many of the more mundane classroom tasks - lectures primarily. It's not hard to see the appeal, with the advent of Khan Academy and easy screencast-recording technology that allows any of us to give a lecture for homework and free up time for in-class problem-solving and discussion. But here's the thing: flipping is nothing new, and as it stands, most flipping that I see doesn't flip the most important switch that I've been discussing here - moving ownership of learning away from the teacher and more toward the student."

"A major roadblock or barrier to implementing the flipped classroom is that many educators do not know what to do in the classroom with the time once spent doing lectures. For educators, who are used to and use the didactic model, a framework is needed to assist them with the implementation of the Flipped Classroom." This is a good resource to share with students in my education programs as they learn to integrate technology into their teaching practice.

"Ariel Braunstein, co-creator of the Flip Video camcorders, announced the launch of Knowmia, an online tutoring service for K-12 students. Knowmia is a digital repository with more than 7,000 videos culled from the Internet by the site's moderators in subjects from microbiology to Mandarin Chinese. The new site automatically searches through thousands of tutoring videos and recommends lessons based on the user's personal preferences"

"The study found that, of the students observed, 94 percent used the Internet, 82 percent go online at home, and 77 percent had a profile on a social networking site. When asked what they learn from using social networking sites, the students listed technology skills as the top lesson, followed by creativity, being open to new or diverse views, and communication skills."

"By using a new website for much of the last year to help manage his middle school charges, California teacher Ricardo Higuera said, "I found myself doing a lot less yelling." The free website ClassDojo, the brainchild of a former teacher and a computer game developer, launched quietly about a year ago, and today the education startup announced it has more than 3.5 million teacher and student users in 30 countries, most of them in the United States. It officially shed its beta label, too."

"There's an ongoing debate about the role social media should play in education. Advocates point out the benefits that social media provides for today's digital learners while critics call for regulation and for removing social media from classrooms. Finding a middle ground has become a challenge." The is an article that provides a look at both sides of integrating social media into the classroom, and was referred to by several student in this class to help them look at this debate.

Looks at the results of the Pew Internet & American Life Project survey on the web and mobile through an educational lens.

Resources for teachers taking their classrooms into the 21st century with project-based learning ideas, inquiry based activities, and tools for flipping the classroom. #PBL

This is a wiki the students in my EDUC 521 Human Learning and Motivation course created as part of the course. They did not like the textbook, so I challenged them to put one of their own together and this is what they came up with.

"The modern workplace and lifestyle demand that students balance cognitive, personal and interpersonal abilities, but current education policy discussions have not defined those abilities well, according to a special report released this afternoon by the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science in Washington."

Sites is Google's free tool to create custom websites. Similar to a wiki, you can develop the site by yourself or choose to collaborate with others on the creation and content of the pages.

A collection of clips from the Plain English series explaining the main tools and strategies on the Internet over the past few years. Now Playing: Social Media in Plain English uploaded by leelefever at youtube.com A simple story that illustrates the forces shaping social media.

Distance Learning Resource Network (DLRN) - This is the dissemination project for the Star Schools Program, a federally funded distance education program that helps small or isolated schools in rural areas use new technologies to offer courses to students, and professional development to teachers, that they could not otherwise provide. This Web site includes general information about distance education; instructional modules, enrichment activities and courses; summaries of current research; and online course-design tools....

Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software that opens up a new world between whiteboards and slides. The zoomable canvas makes it fun to explore ideas and the connections between them. The result: visually captivating presentations that lead your audience down a path of discovery.

I've tried Prezi, but it takes a little while to get used to in the build mode and sizing. Presentations on Prezi are much more interesting than as a PPT.

I love Prezi and use it often...you totally beat me to it! :)

"Welcome to the Teachers Without Borders social network, a global community of teachers working to connect education and human welfare. This is a place to connect, share experiences and resources, and support colleagues from around the world. Membership is FREE and will give you access to colleagues, information and resources you can use for your professional needs and goals, ad to support education initiatives in your schools and communities." #teachers

Interactive site can be used to help students learn the letters of the alphabet and their letter sounds. Also great holiday games to play as well.

Many ideas of how to use wikis in the classroom!