Group items tagged

"AN INTRODUCTORY COMPUTING CURRICULUM USING SCRATCH"

"A simple and adaptable audit on staff use of digital technology and tools."

"Although it's still experimental, they hope the brain-computer interface could someday help give voice to those unable to speak. A new study described testing the device on a 47-year-old woman with quadriplegia who couldn't speak for 18 years after a stroke. Doctors implanted it in her brain during surgery as part of a clinical trial. It "converts her intent to speak into fluent sentences," said Gopala Anumanchipalli, a co-author of the study published Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience."

This is a fascinating conversation about connecting, symbiotic relationships and more with some powerful, spot on answers. The teachers in our current Flat Classroom 12-1 cohort are amazing (and we have another cohort starting soon -- here's what we've been talking about this week. "This is happening now. Live Mocha and other sites have tandem learning - each learner teaches the other a different language. In my classroom, I have the older students teach younger students about computer hardware. But we could be doing so much more. Some professors like Dr. Leigh Zeitz (his students have served as expert advisors) and Dr. Eva Brown (her students helped run Eracism last year) are flattening their college classrooms with preservice teachers by having the teachers connect with high school and younger classrooms. These preservice teachers are understanding the nuances of the global collaborative classroom before graduating from college! There are so many ways we could be creating these types of learning relationships. This week, let's publicly talk about our ideas and also experiences in creating these experiences. We can learn more and do more in this area and technology opens up limitless possibilities. What do you think?"

This is an amazing site which allow up to 4 people to collaboarate and play virtual instruments over the web in real time. Play a variety of guitars, drums and drum machines and keyboards. There is no sign up needed and you just invite other 'musicians' by sharing the link and begin jamming. Set to 'pro' mode to play using your computer keyboard. Requires Google Chrome. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Music%2C+Sound+%26+Podcasts

This site transforms your computer into a music mixer and your students can make music mixes on the web and practise their DJ skills. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Music%2C+Sound+%26+Podcasts

Health teachers will love this site for kids. If you have a rainy day and have access to some computers, this would be a great place for activities. As we emphasize health, we should seek out engaging content in this area. This site is free. Love it. "The multi-award winning program is focused on teaching the basics of cardiovascular health, including anatomy, nutrition, and exercise, by offering comprehensive curriculum materials to teachers and a site just for elementary school children to explore. The curriculum was developed as part of our mission to educate the public in a collaborative effort with medical professionals and certified teachers.  Project Heart is completely free to use and free of advertisements. It is also fully translated into Spanish. 

This is a presentation creating app for iPads. Enter a few titles and pieces of text and the app finds stunning images for you to choose from to add to your slides. The finished creations use html and can be viewed on most web enabled computers, tablets and mobiles. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

"Join the maker movement! There's a technological and creative revolution underway. Amazing new tools, materials and skills turn us all into makers. Using technology to make, repair or customize the things we need brings engineering, design and computer science to the masses. Fortunately for educators, this maker movement overlaps with the natural inclinations of children and the power of learning by doing. The active learner is at the center of the learning process, amplifying the best traditions of progressive education. This book helps educators bring the exciting opportunities of the maker movement to every classroom."

A simple drum sequencer for making percussion sounds. Save files to your computer to re-use later. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Music%2C+Sound+%26+Podcasts

This infographic is an impactful one helping school boards and IT departments understand the important of BYOD environments. In 2011 70% of the workforce between 22-34 used tablets and globally 46% of the mobile workforce has a smartphone. Using, managing, and maximizing these tools is an important part of modern life. Perhaps today's issues are helping students learn to focus, but keeping them out of school is shortsighted decision that will be looked back upon as a lack of vision... that is if you can help kids focus and help teachers encourage the use of them effectively. "Smartphones and Tablet sales will soon take over laptop and desktop computer sales: Don't stick just to books - why not let students use the technology they'll need in the future?"

I totally agree, students should learn programming and be exposed to it. I love Kevin Jarrett's STEM lab and what he's doing. Read this and discuss. It doesn't matter if you don't know how to code or if your teachers are afraid they are going to have to learn. Make it a priority. If you want to add volleyball, you find someone to coach it. If you want to add programming, find someone to teach it, it is that simple. I think this model of "everyone integrates" is great b/c everyone SHOULD integrate but to think or fantasize that technology integration is the same as teaching Computer Science is to think that a kind who can skate is ready to drive a car - not even in the same ballpark.

This musical site gives you a virtual synthesiser to create wonderful tunes and sound effects on. It's easy to use and versatile. You can play the middle octave with your computer keyboard or plot the music along a timeline for greater accuracy. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Music%2C+Sound+%26+Podcasts

I think those who think that we will not need keyboards are missing a few important points. Here's the issue - I can type faster than I can talk. Also, in the classroom - 20 kids talking to their computers it would be chaos and a mess. Typing, however, has a speed benefit and doesn't require a "cone of silence" as a everyone talking to their glasses would. I think keyboarding will remain part of the productive equipment of most of us - until our devices can read our brain waves. For those who type less than 30 words a minute and work in a quiet office, this is likely to be true. Meanwhile, this is a great read about what will happen in our homes, at least.

Doug Johnson is a great read for his blunt, in your face honesty and his point about how technology companies are trying to differentiate is a great one. I think, however, we should extend this to schools as well. If your school is great, say why, but dissing the competition is no way to compete. If you think your school has no competition, think again. So, read this in light of the arriving and coming competition on the edulandscape and have an honest take on how you should "sell" the virtues of your school. If you can't talk about how great your school is and have to resort to how bad the other one is, prepare for a day when you'll shutter the windows and wonder how they're going to keep the bugs out of your empty building. Wake up and smell the wires burning their way into your student's computers and tablets, great teachers are just a click away and we've all got to learn how to blend and trend our courses, teaching, and to bridge our classrooms to add real value as teachers. It isn't hard as you think but if you just sit and teach like you've always taught, you're setting yourself up for some unpleasant days. You can't do everything but you can do something to improve yourself. Next practices are an important part of your best practice. Always innovate and never settle. Standards are only the beginning, you must have purpose if you're going to be a great teacher. Doug says: "But what I do know that when competitors trash each other, I tend to tune out. And I flat out hate it when I know they are lying - and I will NOT buy from a liar. A salesman recently promoted his video storage service by stating "unlike YouTube, we don't own your movies." That's just not true. (YouTube doesn't own your movies, GoogleApps doesn't own your Docs, CIPA, FERPA, etc. do not ban social media.)"

I saw this on Fran Drescher's Twitter account from the Cincinnati Business courier and am quite floored by it. Am I the only one who doesn't know this? How about all of the little kids I see where parents are handing them their ipad and smart phones for play purposes. I jusst need to know more but it is based on a study presented at the Pediatric Academic societies meeting in DC. Of course, they recommend hand washing. But pregnant women should be careful - a 10x increase in maternal PBDE's is associated with a 4 point IQ deficit. Of course, we also have the age old question here of causation or correlation.  I do think we need to know more and also if the equipment we're purchasing to use with young children has PBDEs in them.  If you know more, please leave comments. It does say that some manufacturers are voluntarily phasing these out. "Small children should not touch electronic items such as TVs, mobile phones, computers and other products, according to University of Cincinnati researchers. Chemicals found in such items and in many other products, including older carpets and furniture, can cause behavioral and cognition problems, they have found."

This site is an amazing geometry playground for maths students and teachers. Select points on your screen and connect them up to provide the properties you what. This resource uses HTML5 and works wonderfully across a range of computers, browsers and tablets. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

"Best of both worlds: Issues of structure and agency in computational creation, in and out of school"

Most computers come with some form of preloaded software that includes a package for creating presentations. There are however a range of alternatives and online apps available that have made an attempt to change, update or enhance the presentation format. As well as the standard tools I've included a range of alternatives here for you to explore.